An inquest into the case of a mentally ill Westgate inmate who hung himself while on suicide watch has been slated for July 20 a year after his death.

Lorenzo Robinson, 28, suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and depression. He was found dead on July 13 2008, days after he reportedly told a prison guard he would not be around much longer.

In the past, Mr. Robinson's family lawyer Saul Froomkin QC had expressed frustration at the length of time it had taken for an inquest to be held.

However, in response to questions from this newspaper about why there had been a delay in holding in inquest, a Police spokesman said on Friday afternoon: "The Coroner has recently received the file containing the Bermuda Police Service's investigation into the death of Lorenzo Robinson who was an inmate of the Westgate Correctional Facility. A provisional inquest date of Monday July 20 2009 has been set to look into the circumstances of Mr. Robinson's death."

Robinson was sent to Westgate indefinitely after being acquitted on grounds of insanity of attempting to stab a tourist to death on Front Street in 2002. Experts said during his trial in 2004 that he was highly dangerous and required long-term detention and treatment in a secure psychiatric facility.

There is no such unit at Westgate and Bermuda's only mental hospital, the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, said it did not have a secure unit suitable for the long term detention of such a high-risk patient.

Robinson obtained a ruling from Chief Justice Richard Ground four months before his death that his condition required him to be treated in a secure forensic psychiatric unit and that so-called "hospital cells" at Westgate were no such thing.

The Chief Justice asked for Robinson's care to be reconsidered including the possibility of sending him overseas but he remained in Westgate until he died.

Three lawyers who represented Robinson, Elizabeth Christopher, Narinder Dosanjh and Llewellyn Peniston, have all called for a wider public inquiry into his death.

They believe lessons need to be learned for the benefit of other mentally ill prisoners who may be waiting in vain for specialist help.